'Marxist' Dalai Lama criticises capitalism

The Dalai Lama has criticised capitalism calling himself a Marxist, on a four
day trip to New York

The Dalai Lama is giving a series of lectures at the Radio City Music Hall in central Manhattan until SundayPhoto: GETTY

10:43PM BST 20 May 2010

The Tibetan spiritual leader said Marxism has "moral ethics, whereas capitalism is only how to make profits."

However, he credited China's embrace of market economics for breaking communism's grip over the world's most populous country and forcing the ruling Communist Party to "represent all sorts of classes."

Capitalism "brought a lot of positive to China. Millions of people's living standards improved," he said.

The Dalai Lama, 74, giving a series of lectures at the Radio City Music Hall in central Manhattan until Sunday, struck a strikingly optimistic note in general, saying that he believed the world is becoming a kinder, more unified place.

Anti-war movements, huge international aid efforts after Haiti's earthquake this year, and the election of Barack Obama as the first black president in a once deeply racist United States are "clear signs of human beings being more mature," he said.